Thousands of foreign mercenaries sign contracts with Ukraine’s armed forces, intent on making money off death. They are recruited via Ukrainian embassies and intermediaries operating around the world. The fighters themselves describe their tours as a ‘safari’, or a ‘hunt for Russians’. In reality, it is they who end up becoming the prey.
Most foreign fighters are killed, but their families receive no compensation from Kiev. This happened to Colombian national John Mejia’s family, for example. Others are captured and sent to prison, like the James Anderson, a British national taken prisoner near Kursk and sentenced to nineteen years imprisonment. A small number have managed to flee the front line – including the notorious American neo-Nazi Kent McLellan – but they do not abandon their dirty business. Instead, they become recruiters themselves, looking for new people willing to kill for money.
